Finally a scap dealer was fined for purchasing stolen metal.

Recycler to pay 4.1M in metal theft suit

I read the comments to the news article accessed by the link. Why does it seem like our so-called justice system is always about 20 years behind the times in dealing with situations like this? How long did it take the courts and the Motor Vehicle Depts. to get serious about drunk driving? In some countries these crooked scrap dealers would be dealt with much more severely than a fine that gets charged off as "part of doing business".

While I am very glad one of these scumbag metal
dealers was caught and fined, the punishment was
far too lenient.

Those scrap metal dealers should go to jail. period.
They willfully accept stolen goods and pay for them --
making them accessories after the fact. (IANAL)

What should be done is for the government, and only
the government, to run scrap metal centers. Require
three forms of ID, one being a picture ID, and send
payment only after all IDs check out OK, and then
make the seller wait at least 6 months for payment --
which would be mailed to a street address, not a PO box.
That would solve the problem!

The government running something has never solved a single problem in the history of government.

"What should be done is for the government, and only
the government, to run scrap metal centers".

So, here is yet another business that ONLY the government should run? I take it you have no problem at all with the government running your healthcare as well.

There are just as many crooks in government as there is in the private sector. The only difference is that the government rarely cracks down on itself. The solution would seem to be to elect government officials that have the balls to enforce the laws that already exist.

You want a world where the government runs everything? There is a little island paradise about 90 miles south of Florida that you will just love.

There will always be a certain level of waste and graft with anything. Fact is that most people like the services government provides: Defense, Roads, Libraries, Schools, Food & Drug Safety, etc. They just aren't thrilled about paying for it which is why people otherwise possessed of common sense are easy marks for politicians who claim they can provide all this AND reduce taxes AND not run up bigger deficits. *sigh*

We don't need government-run scrap yards but tighter restrictions on them would help: Photo ID's, photographs or video of the scrap being unloaded, no cash payments at all over a certain amount. (The homeless guy can still bring in his bags of aluminum cans but that's about it.)

Steve

What is it with this natural inclination of many people to automatically assume that government = well run, efficient and pure as the wind driven snow while private business = scoundrels, inefficient and sometimes downright criminal?

If government gets in the business of scrap yards, there will no longer be any price competition, so you get paid what the bureaucrats think you should get paid. Service will suck, and you will just have to live with it (think BMV). Private businesses live or die on whether they are providing the right service at the right price, and if you don't like one you can always go down the street for a better deal and/or better service.

Most people who are legitimate scrap sellers would not balk at requirements to be paid by check mailed to their address at a later date. It is the crackheads who need that instant CASH for their next hit, so just adding some time between sale and payment will greatly help curtail the crackhead scrap thefts, and that is where most of our problems are.

I am locking this thread. From the second post it has no railroad or preservation content, and way too much politics.

Thank You,
Randy Hees
Moderator, RYPN